Opposition Leader Peter Dutton will only stand in front of the Australian flag if he becomes Prime Minister. Photo: Peter Dutton Facebook.
Prime ministerial press conferences might start with a round of everyone chanting “Aussie Aussie Aussie, oi oi oi” if Peter Dutton gets elected next year.
The Opposition Leader has sparked controversy this week telling Peta Credlin on Sky television that he won’t be standing in front of any Indigenous flags should he become PM.
While Anthony Albanese initiated the practice of placing himself in front of the Australian national flag as well as the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander flags at his press conference since becoming PM in 2022, Mr Dutton has stuck to the one flag.
Standing in front of the Australian national flag and that flag alone has been his wont as Opposition Leader and that’s how it will stay if he becomes PM.
“Yes, it will. I’m very strongly of the belief, Peta, that we’re a country united under one flag,” he told Sky.
“If we’re asking people to identify with different flags, no other country does that, and we are dividing our country unnecessarily.
“Now, we should have respect for the Indigenous flag and the Torres Strait Islander flag, but they are not our national flags. I think the Prime Minister sends a very confusing message.
“The Prime Minister’s not out there calling out Woolworths and not out there calling the pubs who don’t want to celebrate Australia Day etc, because he wants to be all things to all people, which is why people rightly perceive him as being the weakest Prime Minister that we’ve had in our country’s history.
“I think the fact is that we should stand up for who we are, for our values, what we believe in.
“We are united as a country when we gather under one flag, which is what we should do on Australia Day.”
Mr Dutton has previously called for a boycott of Woolworths when it stopped stocking the Australian flag for Australia Day.
Labor MPs have lined up this week to accuse Mr Dutton of being the one trying to divide the country with the comments.
Indigenous Affairs Minister Malarndirri McCarthy took to Instagram to accuse the Opposition Leader of trying to “grab a few culture war headlines”.
She said Mr Dutton was “once again” proving himself unfit to be prime minister.
“Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander culture is the oldest continuing culture in the world, and I believe all Australians should take great pride in that,” the Minister said.
Social Services Minister Amanda Rishworth said Mr Dutton was “trying to just create a headline again”.
“You know, I proudly go to schools. I present Australian flags. I present Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander flags. I mean, this is the Opposition Leader just trying to get a headline,” she said
“And really there is our national flag, the Australian flag, we’ve got the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander flag. You know, I think we can take a lot of pride in our history and the future of this country.
“I think this is Peter Dutton just doing what he knows how to do best. Try and get a headline with no substance, no real policies about, for example, tackling cost of living or things that really matter to the Australian people.”
Former Indigenous affairs minister Linda Burney, who will shortly retire from parliament, used social media to express her disgust at the Opposition Leader’s remarks.
“Peter Dutton is the man who walked out on the apology to the Stolen Generations,” Ms Burney wrote.
“This is the man who gave no support to the referendum. He refuses to offer bipartisan support on all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander social and justice issues.
“What else can you expect from a man like him?”
Original Article published by Chris Johnson on Riotact.
